Terry Bradley was born in Belfast in 1965. His early life was spent growing up just off the notorious Shankill Road where his mother tried to keep him inside and away from the “Troubles” outside their front door. Bradley found a form of escapism reading Herge’s Adventures of Tin Tin and his work is still influenced by the black lines of the vivid drawings that illustrated the collection of books that he gradually acquired. He also spent hours in the attic room of his house listening to the then new pirate radio station Radio Luxembourg and imagined his travels and the exotic world beyond the realities of Belfast in the 1970’s. From an early age Bradley discovered that drawing calmed his nerves and that he could loose himself in the complexities of observing people and then recreating them on paper.

He now exhibits in Dublin, Belfast, London and Spain and is planning his first solo exhibition for the USA later this year. His natural aversion to the establishment has made it difficult for him to fit into a typical art gallery mould and he still likes to exhibit in the bars and clubs that he feels most at home in. He sells his work all around the world and his art has been used by Nokia for the cover of a limited edition mobile phone. Bradley has now reached a place in his life that he is comfortable with. He is able to paint full time and explore the voyeuristic side of his nature that he first discovered as a child observing the dangerous world around him His work mostly centres on strong women and ex models in Dublin and more recently Paris. His latest work is inspired by the era of the Belle Époque in France and the contrasts and similarities with the Burlesque dancers of New York.

He has also recently started exploring the colourful characters from the Belfast dockland area know as Sailortown. At its heyday 100years ago the dock workers were famous around the world for their hard drinking and hard working attitude. Bradley finds that these paintings now balance the world of burlesque women that he paints.

Bradley is married with three children and lives and works in Ireland.